Software Automatic Mouth, or S.A.M. (sometimes abbreviated as SAM), is a

speech synthesis Speech synthesis is the artificial production of human speech. A computer system used for this purpose is called a speech synthesizer, and can be implemented in software or hardware products. A text-to-speech (TTS) system converts normal langua ...

program developed by Mark Barton and sold by Don't Ask Software. The program was released for the

Atari 8-bit computers The Atari 8-bit computers, formally launched as the Atari Home Computer System, are a series of home computers introduced by Atari, Inc., in 1979 with the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The architecture is designed around the 8-bit MOS Technology 650 ...

Apple II Apple II ("apple Roman numerals, two", stylized as Apple ][) is a series of microcomputers manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1977 to 1993. The Apple II (original), original Apple II model, which gave the series its name, was designed ...

, and

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...

. Released in 1982, it was one of the first commercial all-software voice-synthesis programs. Don't Ask Software also sold ''PokerSAM'', a poker game with speech, and also licensed out the S.A.M. engine for use with other games, such as ''Tales of the Arabian Nights'' for the

Technology

The Apple version uses an included expansion card which contains an 8-bit DAC, although hackers created a modified version of S.A.M. which can instead use the computer's one-bit audio output (with the addition of much distortion) if the card is not present. The Atari version makes use of the embedded

POKEY POKEY, an acronym for Pot Keyboard Integrated Circuit, is a digital I/O chip designed by Doug Neubauer at Atari, Inc. for the Atari 8-bit computers. It was first released with the Atari 400 and Atari 800 in 1979 and is included in all later ...

audio chip. Speech playback on the Atari normally disables interrupt requests and shuts down the

ANTIC Alphanumeric Television Interface Controller (ANTIC) is an LSI ASIC dedicated to generating 2D computer graphics to be shown on a television screen or computer display. Under the direction of Jay Miner, the chip was designed in 1977–1978 b ...

chip during vocal output. The audible output is extremely distorted speech when graphic and text display is turned on. The Commodore 64 makes use of the 64's embedded SID audio chip's 4-bit volume DAC, reducing its quality significantly vs the Apple and Atari versions. When producing speech, the Commodore 64 version blanks the screen as the program accesses memory, although a "light" mode can be activated that leaves the screen active, producing a "gravelly" voice. Active sprites also cause a deterioration in the quality of voice output.

Legacy

S.A.M. was used as the basis for the original

MacInTalk PlainTalk is the collective name for several speech synthesis (MacinTalk) and speech recognition technologies developed by Apple Inc. In 1990, Apple invested a lot of work and money in speech recognition technology, hiring many researchers in the ...

speech synthesis software. The technology was recreated for the voice of the character of "SAM" in the software Chipspeech.link
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References

External links

magazine review

an

Atari BASIC Atari BASIC is an interpreter for the BASIC programming language that shipped with Atari 8-bit computers. Unlike most American BASICs of the home computer era, Atari BASIC is not a derivative of Microsoft BASIC and differs in significant way ...

spelling program
SAM manual
reproduction of the Atari version manual
Analysis of SAM
translated version to C and executable for Windows
Run SAM in the Browser
translated version to native

JavaScript JavaScript (), often abbreviated as JS, is a programming language and core technology of the World Wide Web, alongside HTML and CSS. Ninety-nine percent of websites use JavaScript on the client side for webpage behavior. Web browsers have ...

SAM as JAVA class file for the JVM
2020 Interview with Mark Barton about S.A.M.
{{Authority control 1982 software Apple II software Atari 8-bit computer software Commodore 64 software Speech synthesis software